◄ Zephaniah Devotional Commentary ►

Zephaniah 1:2

Our holy God is a God of love, but He is also a God of righteousness and justice, and all sin must be punished. The Lord determined in His heart to execute judgement over all the earth, and the prophecy of Zephaniah spells out, in graphic detail, the approaching doom for ungodly Gentile nations. He also details the terrors pronounced over Jerusalem because of their unbelief, their refusal to turn from sin, their rebellious attitude towards God, and the sacrilegious read more...

Zephaniah 1:15

The Day of the Lord is a period of time that is often spoken about by Old Testament prophets, but when all the passages relating to this unique time in earth's history are carefully examined, two very different descriptions of this special period emerge.

On the one hand, we see a time of great darkness and deep distress when the full force of God's wrath is poured out on a God-rejecting, Christ-hating, sinful world. On the other read more...

Zephaniah 1:17

The peace we have WITH God through faith in Christ; the blessed hope we have in Jesus, when He comes to take us to be with Himself at the rapture; and the incomprehensible peace OF God that governs our hearts, when our minds are focussed on Him, will be unavailable to those who enter the great and terrible Day-of-the-Lord. It is to be a time when God will bring such severe distress upon men, that they will grope about as if they read more...

Zephaniah 1:18

God was not surprised when Adam sinned, nor was He taken aback when idolatrous Israel rebelled. Jesus was destined to be the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, and chose us in Christ (the Church) to be His children. He also chose Israel to be His covenant people, through whom the Messiah would be born. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises; and holy men of Israel penned the Scriptures read more...

Zephaniah 2:3

It was to the prophet Zephaniah, that God revealed His determination to not only execute judgement upon the whole earth, but also upon His own apostate nation of Israel.

Zephaniah not only heard how the terrors of God's wrath were to destroy the idolatrous Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Ethiopians, Assyrians, and other pagan people, including the city of Nineveh who had repented of their sins in the time of Jonah, but he warned read more...

Zephaniah 2:8

The race that God created to rule over the earth fell in the Garden of Eden, and Israel, the nation God chose to witness to the world of His goodness and grace, failed to fulfil her covenanted role. Instead of telling the Gentiles about the Lord, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. They followed after pagan gods. They disobeyed the Lord. They broke their covenant with Him and dishonoured His holy name.

Like so many read more...

Zephaniah 3:5

The day of God's judgement is coming upon the whole earth and many of the terrible physical characteristics and devastating disasters that Zephaniah set out in his prophetic writings, speak of the dreadful 'Day of the Lord', that future, 7-year long Tribulation period, known as 'Daniel’s 70th week' or the 'Time of Jacob’s Trouble'.

This man of God wrote his severe warning of the wrath to come during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah. The young king read more...

Zephaniah 3:8

Do you sometimes wonder why the Lord seemingly permits the evil deeds of wicked men to prosper, while His children seem to be facing trials and hardships? Do you sometimes simply wonder why? Or are you mystified as to why His precious promises are so long in coming? Many do. It all comes back to sin - fallen man's sin. Well, sin has to be dealt with. All sin has to be punished by God because He is holy and just.

The read more...

Zephaniah 3:17

God is more than the Creator, He is the LORD God Who is in the midst of us; loving us, caring for us, protecting us, defending us, indwelling us, and Who died so that we might have life and have it in superabundance. This is no less true for the Church than it was for Israel – it is not truer for Israel that it is for the Church, for God's Word to His people is sure, steadfast, faithful, and true. He is always near at hand to help and to heal, to hold and to read more...